I’m late posting my Project Life cover page for 2018 but it has actually been done since the middle of February. I went for a simple approach this year. The colours are not coming up properly in the photo but they’re more of a purple-pink than pink. The kit I used for this spread is the Prismatic Edition. The gold alpha stickers are Sentiment Thickers. Unfortunately I’m not sure where the small ‘#OLW’ stickers are from. As with the past couple of years, I have included my One Little Word for the year and what I plan to do with it into my spread to remind me to check in with it regularly.

12×12 albums with monthly spreads have worked for me the past couple of years so I’m doing the same this year. If I have anything out of the ordinary in a month, like a trip or a wedding, I’ll create a separate spread for that.

Are you working on Project Life in 2018? How do you use this scrapbooking technique?

Reading… ‘Fully Functioning Human (Almost): Living in an Online/Offline World’ by the Irish YouTuber Melanie Murphy. I’m only a couple of chapters in but so far so good.

Watching… Suits. I’m on season 2 and it’s fun and easy-watching. And before you ask, I’m completely guilty of watching it to get a look at Meghan Markle before she gave it all up for Harry. I’m also excited that Grey’s Anatomy is back after it’s winter break and I’ve just watched Big Little Lies and loved loved loved it.

Listening to… Pink’s new album ‘Beautiful Trauma’. It’s great and I didn’t expect any less. I’ve loved all her albums.

I went back and forward between a few different words this year and I decided to keep hold of them as supporting or accompanying words. When I really thought about it, they all led to different elements of my goals for LESS. So my supporting words are: simplify, clarity and intentional.

As you can see from the image below, the things I plan to do less of in 2018 are:

Have less negative thoughts (and yes, the fact that Less is a negative word, hasn’t escaped my attention!) I also aim to worry less. One of the things that creates negative thoughts and worry for me is internalising things that bother me. I plan to communicate in a more clear and open manner and hopefully that will help with the worry and negativity.

Spend less money, on unnecessary material things, in particular. As a result of spending less, I obviously hope to save more money.

I also plan to clear out on a lot of the material things I already have including clothes, shoes and beauty products. Nobody needs the amount I have.

Drink less alcohol and eat less unhealthy foods. In return, I plan to exercise more, get more fresh air and lose more weight. Easy right?!

Spend less time doing things I don’t want to do. I hope to have less things and more experiences. Some that cost money and some that don’t. I definitely want to spend less of my time during the day, when I’m not in work, watching TV.

Finally, I am the queen of procrastinating, so in 2018, I want to do less of that and make better use of my time. That doesn’t mean there won’t be time spent doing nothing but when I do, I want it to be intentional.

So that’s my plan for 2018. Let’s see how it goes.

I’m not sure how I’m going to document my OLW this year but I’ll be sure to share it when it comes to me. I’ve always decided at the start of the year and it never really works out so I’m going to see how I get on with my word for a few weeks first. As always, the thing I love most about OLW is that you can use it and document it however you like.

Are you taking part in One Little Word this year? What’s your word for 2018?

If you would like to check out Ali Edwards’ One Little Word workshop, you can here. You can also find out more information about One Little Word here. The link is also in my side bar. Finally, if you want to check out my previous posts on this topic, click on One Little Word here or under the Series tab in the menu bar.

I may not have been great at posting about my 2017 One Little Word but I still exercised it a bit more than I did my 2016 Word. My word for 2017 was Focus. I wanted to focus on my own life & career. Decide what I wanted to do with myself a bit more. This time last year I was pretty miserable in my work but now I’m a lot happier. It’s partly changes that were made & partly settling into changes that had been made the previous September.

Another thing that I focussed on was saving more money. Or as I said last year, any money at all. I’m happy with it but I plan to up the ante this year. I also cut my hair up pretty short and stopped dying it in September in an attempt to get it back to a healthy condition so with a bit of luck that won’t take too much longer. Before I go any further, hair, I know! First world problem but hey!!

One of the things that didn’t really change was how much I worry about things out of my control. That’s getting added to my list for this year’s Word. Another thing I planned to do in 2017 was build on the progress I made losing weight in 2016 & lose more. That did not happen. I spent the year losing & gaining the same half stone. This year, I vow to get back on track with that.

There’s plenty of other things I plan to do with my Word for 2018 & I’ll share my word along with what I plan to do with it in my next post.

Are you taking part in One Little Word this year? What’s your word for 2018?

If you would like to check out Ali Edwards’ One Little Word workshop, you can here. You can also find out more information about One Little Word here. The link is also in my side bar. Finally, if you want to check out my previous posts on this topic, click on One Little Word here or under the Series tab in the menu bar.

I’ve been looking for breakfast or brunch ideas for the weekend that isn’t quite as bad as a typical Full Irish Breakfast. I found a lot of the muffin tin type recipes but I was hoping for something I could just put in the middle of the table & dish up.

So I decided to go with some of the ingredients from many of the muffin tin/ramekin recipes, with a few extras, and put it all in 1 big dish & pop it in the oven. The following recipe is enough for 3-4 people.

First I chopped 8 bacon medallions and put them on the pan with some spray oil (6 would be fine but they needed to be cooked before tomorrow so I decided to throw them all in)

Then I chopped up 6 mushrooms & added them to the pan. I had 3 baby potatoes left over from yesterday’s dinner so I chopped them up and added them in. (They are definitely optional but a great addition if it’s a brunch meal that you want to keep you going until dinner)

I used my spray oil again to spray the bottom of the oven dish and added the bacon, mushrooms & potatoes.

Next, I added a tin of baked beans. I removed a tbsp of the sauce because I thought there might be a little too much but I can’t see that it would make a huge difference.

After the beans, I added a sprinkle of grated cheddar cheese (if you’re trying to be good, you could leave this out) but the amount I added wouldn’t even be a tbsp per person.

Last but not least, crack a few eggs on top & season with salt & pepper before putting it into the oven for 20-25 minutes.

It’s a relatively quick and easy brunch idea with a limited amount of cleaning up. Add a pot of tea and everyone is happy.

The only thing I would do differently next time is possibly add some scallion or red onion to the mix.

Well I tortured Jennie back in June with some old pictures to celebrate turning 30 & its only fair I do the same to Nikki.

Now, lucky for everyone getting to enjoy these photos (or unlucky for you Nik & those in them!) I don’t have any up to date photos of Nikki as she has been living in Australia for several years now!

Nikki & I have known each other over 20 years. We first met when she joined my primary school in second class (I hope that’s correct, you’ll tell me if not) We had plenty of great times and got up to plenty of mischievous over the years. Some of these pictures show that.

We may only get to see each other every couple of years now but when we do, it’s like nothing has changed & no time has passed. That makes us still in our mid-20s right?

I hope you have a wonderful 30th birthday Nik. Welcome to the club. X

P.s. I’m getting away with that first picture because you’re too far away to kill me! I was originally looking for a nice school pic but I couldn’t pass this up!!

Reading… Deceptions by Kelley Armstrong. At least I was until my car was broken into and it was taken inside my bag. I’ll need to buy a second copy.

Watching… Power. Season 2, hooked! I’m also watching Ozark. I’m about half way through the first season. I’m enjoying it but waiting for it to pick up pace a little.

Listening to… Casefile podcasts. I listened to their 3 part podcast on Jonestown because I find Cults fascinating. I always have. Now I’m listening to them on the way to and from work. If you are interested in true crime then I’d highly recommend them.

Celebrating… Chief turning 10 at the weekend! He’s really turning into a grumpy old man but he was very happy with the steak he got for his birthday treat!

Focussing on… work mostly!

Eating… lots of smoked salmon and poached eggs but unfortunately all of the things I shouldn’t eat too!

Happy… about my new haircut. It was badly in need of a cut.

Scrapping… my 2017 Project Life spreads. I’ve just started this year so I’ve got my cover page and January completed.

Purging… beauty products and old make-up that I will never use or is most likely passed its use by date.

Planning… to make some healthy soups this week and to plan my meals a bit better in the hopes I don’t fall off the wagon!

Enjoying… a couple of unexpected days off work due to Storm Ophelia. Thankfully we didn’t get hit badly but my thoughts go out to the parts of the country that were and the people who lost their lives.

This is me, enjoying the last year of my 20s and drinking a cocktail out of a fake coconut because why not?

So tomorrow I turn 30 & leave my 20s behind. It feels like this is the right time to evaluate my 20s and what I’ve learned. Here are 20 things that I have learned in my 20s:

1. A drama free life is a wonderful thing. There is soooo much unnecessary drama in your early 20s.

2. You don’t have to and shouldn’t pretend your life is perfect all the time. It’s okay to tell the people close to you about the bad stuff as well as the good.

3. Relationships (of all kinds – friends, boyfriends, family members) are so important. They also take work. It needs to include equal effort (maybe at different times) and making time for each other. Oh and quality > quantity.

14. Travelling is a good way to spend your money. Do it your way though, because there are so many travel “know-it-alls”. Whether it’s a week at a time in 5 star hotels or a year at a time in hostels, do what feels right to you.

15. It’s ok to spend Saturday nights binge watching TV series rather than binge drinking but it’s also okay to go drinking and let your hair down with friends too.

16. ‘No’ is a full sentence. You don’t always have to have an excuse/reason.

17. Pick your battles. This is a big 1 for me. Sometimes it’s easier and makes more sense to hold your tongue.

18. Don’t compare yourself to others. Everyone is on a different journey. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. Be happy for your friend’s achievements, wish people who are no longer in your life happiness and be grateful for what you have. The grass is not always greener.

19. Never point out your flaws to other people. They might not have noticed before you drew their attention to them.

20. This 1 leads on from the last and it’s a bit of a cliche but stop hating things about yourself. You might never be the skinniest or have the prettiest hair. So what. You have plenty of other things going for you.

Of course, it’s not all plain sailing and if I’m being honest, I’m not 100% there with #19 & #20 but it’s definitely a work in progress. Unfortunately I don’t know everything and I still have a lot to learn so maybe in 10 years time, I’ll be sharing 30 new things I’ve learned.

Here are some things I hope to learn/do in my 30s that I haven’t quite mastered in my 20s:

2. The 6 month mantra. I tend to over worry and I can be a bit of a worse case scenario kind of person. I’ll learn from this in the future, I’m sure. So I need to try & think of the mantra of asking myself if it’s something that will still be a problem in 6 months time before I freak out.

3. Not to let my emotions or mood dictate my day.

4. Patience. Mine are definitely getting worse rather than better. That’s enough said about that.

I’ve added June into my July spread for 2016 because as I have previously said, I lost my pictures & so other than San Francisco, the only photos I have for June are the few taken in the last few days of the month.

Spread 1:

Spread 1 is made up of a couple of pics from the end of June. I arrived home from San Francisco on my Dad’s birthday so I bought some doughnuts on the way home from the airport & some happy birthday candles. Mark was visiting from Cork with his new puppy Bear for a couple of days. The euros were on so it was only right to put an Ireland scarf on him.

Project Life Kits:

Strawberry (Core Kit)

Alpha Stickers:

The blue & pink alpha stickers used for ‘summer’ and ‘June & July’ are Macaw Thickers.

The small pink alpha stickers for ‘Dads Bday’ are Snap Studios by Simple Minds.

Embellishments:

I have no idea where the loveheart embellishment is from. Oops!

Pocket Pages:

The pocket page I used for this spread is Design D from Project Life.

Spread 2:

Spread 2 is made up mostly of pictures. The top left is a picture of Chief with his bandage. He got his nail caught in a metal bridge and it ripped off. Poor baby! The top right picture is me & Bex heading off to the cinema after her art summer camp. The bottom left is a picture of Emma, Bex & I having a picnic in the park. The bottom right is Stephen getting ready to BBQ. The two 3×4 picstures in the middle are my new nails – pink for summer and Lady hiding under my chair from the sun.

Project Life Kits:

Strawberry (Core Kit)

Pocket Pages:

The pocket page I used for this spread is Design D from Project Life.

Spread 3:

Spread 3 is made up of pics from a night in July in Jade & Owen’s having drinks. It’s the first time Dave appears in my Project Life album.

Project Life Kits:

Seafoam (Core Kit)

Alpha Stickers:

I can’t work out where the black alpha stickers used for ‘Drinks, Friends & Fun’ are from. The label had been cut off so I have no idea.

The small grey alpha stickers for ‘Jade & Owen Singing!’ are made by Project Life.

The black alpha stickers for ‘July’ are Ali Thickers made for Studio Calico.

Pocket Pages:

The pocket page I used for this spread is Design D from Project Life.

Spread 4:

Spread 4 is made up of pics from a couple of nights out in July. Me & Jade met a guy called Bobby that we met in Las Vegas a couple of years before. The other was a night Emma, Kiara & I went out in Lucan.

Project Life Kits:

Seafoam (Core Kit)

Alpha Stickers:

The black alpha stickers used for ‘Who, What, Why’ are Handmade Boutique Elements by Little Birdie.

Embellishments:

I have no idea where the arrow embellishment is from. I probably shouldn’t pour whole packets of embellishments into tubs and not label them.

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